Posted on 08/13/2014 1:39:41 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
Japan "strongly protested" on Wednesday exercises by the Russian military on Pacific islands that it also claims and which have been at the root of strained relations between the two countries since the end of World War Two.
The exercises on the disputed islands are a blow to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's efforts to court resource-rich Russia and keep the door open to dialogue, despite the Ukraine crisis.
The islands are known as the Southern Kuriles in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan.
Russia seized them in the waning days of World War Two and the ongoing dispute has prevented the neighbours from signing a formal peace treaty.
"Carrying out this sort of exercises in the Northern Territories is totally unacceptable," Abe told reporters.
Japan lodged a "strong protest" at the Russian Embassy in Tokyo, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said in a statement, calling the exercises "extremely regrettable".
Japan had already protested at the beginning of the military exercises but reiterated its objections on Wednesday.
Colonel Alexander Gordeyev, a spokesman for Russia's Eastern Military District, told the Russian news agency Interfax on Tuesday that the exercises had begun, involving the deployment of military units in the region to the islands.
Gordeyev said more than 1,000 troops, five Mi-8AMTSh attack helicopters and 100 other pieces of military hardware would be involved in the manoeuvres.
The exercises included Etorofu and Kunashiri islands, which Japan claims. It also claims Shikotan island and the Habomai islet group.
(Excerpt) Read more at in.reuters.com ...
I watch the NHK World news broadcast (Japanese state broadcasting company) on my Roku on a regular basis. Nearly every night there is news of some type of confrontational event in the western Pacific involving Japan and China, Russia or North Korea. It’s getting scary there.
Boy they are making friends everywhere....
The Japanese are provoking your beloved Putin. Come and defend your glorious leader!
It's a stone's throw from Japan.
But the fact of life is that Japan lost in World War II. These islands were taken by USSR at that time. Here is how Wilipedia explains this:
The Potsdam Declaration states the following regarding the Japanese territories: "8. The terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out and Japanese sovereignty shall be limited to the islands of Honshū, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku and such minor islands as we determine".[12] The islands comprising the Northern Territories are not explicitly included in this list, but the US subsequently maintained, particularly during the preparation of the Treaty of San Francisco, that the phrase "and such minor islands as we determine" could be used to justify transferring the Northern Territories to Japan.
Note the terms "as we determine" - this is what the winners write. Stalin after WWII had quite enough troops, weapons, and eventually nukes to strongly insist on his vision of this little problem. I do not foresee that Russia will cede control over these islands any time soon. Maybe, perhaps, some serious horse-trading is possible. But the islands won't be returned just because another Japanese PM sends an angry letter. They don't even read those in Kremlin.
A few years ago Russia offered to give back two of the islands and the Japanese said no, we want them all back.
I don't love Putin but I love Ukraine even less. You might want to ask George Bush about his affection for Putin's soul.
Reminder of what governments like Russia and China do with territory they conquer. A reminder why we don’t want to let them get out of hand.
I’m not a George Bush apologists, but you are a Putin apologist.
Ukraine wants to break from Putin, and that breaks your heart.
They’ll compromise on the 1855 border, Russia will build a NG pipeline to Japan, everyone will live long and prosper.
and just what is Japan going to do?
Squat!
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